Paramount Animation (feature animation department)
This article is about the main feature animation division of Paramount Pictures. For the animation studio that maintains both the Hollywood, Burbank, and Los Angeles studios, see Paramount Animation. The feature animation department of Paramount Animation, formerly known as Paramount Animation Studios 'from 1967 to 1986 and '''Paramount Feature Animation '''from 1986 to 2006, is the in-house animation division of Paramount Pictures, founded July 27, 1967 by some of Paramount's former animation branch Famous Studios alumni, as well as some of the staff from Walt Disney Productions. Paramount also hires Amblin Entertainment former animation branch Amblimation alumni and Turner Entertainment former feature animation branch Turner Feature Animation alumni to work at its animation division in 1996, as old Paramount staffs passed away or retired. Based at the Paramount Studios Lot in Hollywood, California, the studio has produced a total of 54 feature films within the Paramount Animated Features canon, from ''World of Wonderland (1970) to Twin, Duo, and Forever (2019). Background Before it came around, Paramount Cartoon Studios first started off with the Fleischer brothers. Fleischer Studios was built on Max Fleischer's novelty film series, Out of the Inkwell (1919-1927). The "novelty" was based largely on the results of the "Rotoscope", invented by Fleischer to produce realistic animation. The first "Out of the Inkwell" films were produced through the Bray Studio, and featured Fleischer's first character, "The Clown," which became known as Ko-Ko the Clown in 1924. In 1921, The Bray Studio ran afoul with legal issues, having contracted for more films than it could deliver to its distributor, The Goldwyn Company. The Fleischer Brothers left and began their own studio with Dave as Director and Production Supervisor, and Max as Producer. In 1924, Veteran Animator, Dick Huemer came to The Inkwell Studio and redesigned "The Clown" for more efficient animation. Huemer's new design and experience as an Animator moved them away from their dependency on The Rotoscope for fluid animation. In addition to defining the clown, Huemer established the Fleischer style with its distinctive thick and thin ink lines. In addition, Huemer created Ko-Ko's companion, Fitz the Dog, who would evolve into Bimbo in 1930. Throughout the 1920s, Fleischer was one of the leading producers of animation with clever moments and numerous innovations including the "Rotograph", an early "Aerial Image" photographic process for compositing animation with live action backgrounds. Other innovations included Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes and sing-along shorts (featuring the famous "bouncing ball"), a precursor to Karaoke. During the 1930s and early 1940s, Fleischer begun working on Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman. After Fleischer Studios dissolved into Famous Studios after founder Fleischer's dismayal, the Popeye and Superman series continued on with another series like Noveltoons, Little Lulu, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Baby Huey, Herman and Katnip, Buzzy the Crow, Little Audrey, Beetle Bailey, Snuffy Smith, Krazy Kat and Screen Songs. By 1967, the Paramount animation studio was closed down after the Fractured Fable, Mouse Trek was completed for a release on December. History In early 1967, Kenny & Kella Young Productions employees, George Burke and Lana Ponce, met with Paramount Pictures and its former parent Gulf and Western Industries to discuss the creation of a feature animation division, an offer which Burke and Ponce immediately accepted. Paramount Animation Studios was officially established on July 27, 1967, to produce theatrically released animated feature films to rival Disney's animated features. Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg was brought in to head the new division, which was set up in a building on the Paramount Pictures studios lot. To build the talent base, Burke brought over artists from Kenny & Kella Young Productions, while Eisner and Katzenberg brought over some of the staff from Walt Disney Productions. Some of Paramount Cartoon Studios' artists came to Paramount Feature Animation in fall 1967 after Paramount Cartoon Studios (it was formerly Famous Studios until 1956) was shut down by Gulf+Western and was merged into PAS. After the released of World of Wonderland in 1970, Paramount signed a co-production deal with Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions to co-produce and distribute ''Charlotte's Web ''(1973). In 1984, Michael Eisner left Paramount and became CEO of The Walt Disney Company, along with Jeffrey Katzenberg become chairman of the company. In 1986, Paramount Animation Studios was renamed into '''Paramount Feature Animation. In December 1990, it was reported that Paramount Feature Animation would make a partnership with Amblimation on few animated feature films, such as Little Orphan Annie, Princess and Prince Adventures, and Natalia's Story. In February 25, 1994, George Burke and Lana Ponce has come to their retirement after the release of Princess and Prince Adventures. On July 7, 1994, Paramount Communications Inc. was sold to Viacom following the purchase of 50.1% of Paramount's shares for $9.75 billion. In the same year, Paramount created a computer animation department at the studio's main headquarters that would produce computer-generated productions, including special effects for some of their films. For then, the studio had the traditional animators working for their main hand-drawn animation department, and the computer animators worked on CG productions. Some of Amblimation and Turner Feature Animation's artists came to Paramount Feature Animation in 1996, when Amblimation's closure in 1997 after Natalia's Story was released, with the rest with DreamWorks, and Turner Feature Animation's last feature, Cats Don't Dance, was completed and the merger with Turner and Time Warner, with the rest doing so following the studio merged with its feature animation rival, Warner Bros. Feature Animation. Upon the unsuccessful release of Thieves and Kings, Paramount laid off most of the employees at the Feature Animation studio in Hollywood, downsizing it to one unit and beginning plans to move into fully computer animated films. Subsequently, after the release of The Wanderer, Paramount Feature Animation officially announced they were becoming a fully CGI studio, now with a staff of 460 people and began selling off all of its traditional animation equipment. In 2006, Paramount renamed its Feature Animation unit from Paramount Feature Animation to Paramount Animation, and merged its direct-to-video and television animation units with the feature animation. In July 2011, in the wake of critical and box office success of their animated features, Rango and The Flamingo Prince, heavy fan demand about bring back hand-drawn animation, and the departure of DreamWorks Animation upon completion of their distribution contract in 2012, Paramount Animation announced that it decided focus on both hand-drawn animation and CGI animation, and Paramount extended its animation production unit at Los Angeles, devoted to the creation of animated productions. In October 2011, Paramount named a former president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, David Stainton, president of Paramount Animation. In February 2012, Stainton resigned for personal reasons, with Paramount Film Group's president, Adam Goodman, stepping in to directly oversee the studio. In July 2017, Paramount Pictures named former DreamWorks Animation co-president Mireille Soria as the president of the studio in Hollywood and Los Angeles. In April 2018, Paramount Pictures named former Blue Sky Studios and Nickelodeon Movies producer Ramsey Naito as the executive vice president of the studio in Hollywood and Los Angeles. In September 2019, Paramount Animation introduced its new logo for both Hollywood and Los Angeles and new mascot, a tween girl named Star Skipper, replacing Friendly from Friendly from Friendly Fox. Projects The first of Paramount's animated features was World of Wonderland (1970). World of Wonderland ''received positive reviews from critics and was a success at the box office. ''World of Wonderland ''established Paramount as Disney's then-first major competitor in feature-film animation. Animation production for ''World of Wonderland ''was primarily done at the new Paramount feature animation studio, although much of the work was outsourced to animation studios around the world. ''Coming soon! Filmography Feature films Released films Upcoming films Films in development R Not produced, but released by Paramount Animation under its label S Combines live-action with animation Television specials Digital films Short films Miscellaneous work Franchises Accolades Main article: List of accolades received by Paramount Animation Gallery Coming soon! Trivia * Paramount Animation is often described by fans as the Paramount counterpart of Walt Disney Animation Studios, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and Animation Group Warner Animation Group, as well as Bluth Studios Don Bluth Productions/Animation Studios Fox Animation Studios and Warner Bros. Feature Animation. * Unique for an animation studio, almost every one of Paramount Animation's feature films so far features a younger (human) protagonist (mostly a young boy or a teenage boy). See also * Paramount Animation * DreamWorks Animation * Nickelodeon Animation Studio Category:Company Category:Paramount Animation Category:Viacom Category:Paramount Pictures